Research in Psychology I - Fall 2005Study I - Observational Study - Introduction OutlineI. Opening Paragraph which includes the Thesis Statement : - Sentence telling the reader what the variables of interest are, at the conceptual level (notthe operational level).- A sentence or two illustrating the broad theoretical and/or applied reasons this area ofresearch is important.- A sentence telling the reader what sets the present study apart from previous studies atthe conceptual level, what your study is trying to show (what is the goal of the study)II. Literature Review :A. present a brief history of the field of study, including definitions of major terms andconcepts and what they have been used to demonstrate or explain. Assume that the readerhas some knowledge of the topic so a complete review is unnecessary. Be brief, but nottoo brief.- For this paper present a very brief (2-3 sentences at the most) overview of whatprevious studies of cellular telephone use, that you have reviewed, have focusedon.- For this paper, all of the articles in your reference list should be cited at leastonce here.B. present the pertinent general findings of important studies. - do so topically; present the major topics, relevant to your topic, that have beenaddressed by different studies that you have read.- if two or more studies report the same relationship between the variables you areinterested in, then describe them together. Be sure to address any relevant differencesbetween these studies as well.- For this paper the following topics are suggested.1. Cell phone use in general (all of the articles in your reference list shouldbe cited here, unless you have some articles that don’t address any of thesetopics)a. estimates of the % of population using cell phones (be sure tonote where theses samples are taken from; e.g., U.S. vs. Othercountries).b. estimates of the frequency of use of cell phonesc. patterns or types of uses that have been studied. 2. Cell phone use and gendera. Findings of the different studiesa1- Generally, if the information come from the introduction, then it isresearch done by someone other than the authors of the article, andyou should cite it as follows: “In a Tanzanian sample, males have been found to use cell phonesmore instrumentally (as bricks or clubs) than females (Click &Clack, 2001, as cited in Crick & Crack, 2002).” - In this example the article by Crick and Crack (2002) describes astudy by Click & Clack (2001). Since you didn’t read Click andClack (2001) you have to give Crick and Crack (2002) the creditthey deserve.- An exception to this would be if you are citing the conclusionsthat authors of the article you are reading drew from other studies.That is they read 10 studies and then said they all neglectedsomething really important. If you talk about that then just cite theauthors of the article you read. For example:“A majority of the research on cell phone use has focused oninstrumentality (using cell phones as projectiles or blunt objects)and attachment (treating cell phones as if they were surrogaterelationship partners; Crick & Crack, 2002).” a2 - If the information comes from the results or discussion and it refers tothe data that was collected for the study described in the methods,then you just cite the authors of the article you are reading.Otherwise, you may need to refer back to a1 above.- In the present paper: You should carefully review the findings regardinggender for Lemish & Cohen (2005), Prezza et al. (2004), Bianchi& Phillips (2005), and Leena et al (2005).b. review the theoretical explanations for the relationship between cellphone use and gender that have been found. Lemish & Cohen willprobably be your best resource here.III. Critique the Literature- Point out any areas in the literature that you feel are being neglected. Also, if you areusing a new and different manipulation, predictor, or dependent variable emphasize thisin your review of the earlier work, and try set up for the reader the logical continuitybetween previous research and the study that you are proposing.- You may want to note that previous studies have not looked at daily factors thatinfluence cell phone use, like group size or time pressure.- You may want to note that previous studies have focused on self reports of cellphone use and have neglected actual human behavior.IV. Present Study’s Rational : i.e. what does your study do that no other study to date has done.- This should be a logical extension of your critique.a) Describe the operationalization of the variables of interest- Independent Variable - How are gender, group type, and time pressure operationalized(measured)?- Dependent Variable - How is cell phone use operationalized (measured)b) Describe design of study:C) State the Research Hypothesis:- With respect to your operationalization of the variables of interest, state whatresults you expect to find and Why you expect to find them.- Gender by Cell phone = who will be higher/lower on % observed using thephone, and why (should be informed by your lit review and have acitation)- Group type by Cell phone = who will be higher/lower on % observed using thephone, and why? - Time pressure and Cell Phone = who will be higher/lower on % observed usingthe phone and